


Ombra di un Fratello

by KasumiChou



Series: Russian Brothers AU [4]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: M/M, Russian Brothers AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-22 20:18:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10704360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KasumiChou/pseuds/KasumiChou
Summary: When Yuuri asked to go through some of Vlad's unpublished by finished works, he didn't expect to stumble across 'A Brother's Shadow'.He also didn't expect Victor to stumble across the same song after he changed the name of it.





	Ombra di un Fratello

“You want to use some of my music?” Vladimir Nikiforov questioned his brother’s fiancé with a confused look on his face.

“Yes.” Yuuri said while nodding his head.

The pair were seated in Vlad’s apartment, enjoying a coffee together. With Alex back home in Italy for a week to visit family and Victor down at the rink helping little Yuri with his new short program for the upcoming season, Yuuri had decided that they should spend some time together.

It wasn’t uncommon for them to catch up, they tried to at least have one meal together during the week, especially when Yuuri realised that they lived in the same area (you can thank Victor for trying to keep that a secret). Most of their meals together normally turned into family dinner dates with alternate locations (either Victor and Yuuri’s apartment, or Vlad and Alex’s), but they did have the occasional lunch or coffee catch up.

“I can just create you a song.” Vlad offered while raising an eyebrow, only to frown in confusion when Yuuri shook his head.

“No! Victor always tells me about how much music you have hidden away, I want to use one of them.” Vlad flushed slightly, not used to people wanting to hear music he already had created. Most people wanted new songs based on a certain theme. Victor was one of those people, someone who always requested. Victor requesting a minimal three songs from him a skating season, sometimes more if he got sick of a particular routine.

“Are you sure?” He questioned while raising an eyebrow.

“Please.” He sighed at the begging face that went along with the plea. He knew exactly why his brother was smitten for this man.

“I mean, if you are sure.” He said with a shrug before reaching towards the coffee table to grab his mug of Italian imported coffee, a must-have in his household, especially with Alex living there.

“Can I go through it now?” He froze in surprise, not having expected Yuuri to ask right away. He was a little thankful he hadn’t quite picked up his coffee yet, because he probably would have spelt it all over his gorgeous white Gucci dress pants. He grabbed his coffee after a moment and took a sip before gesturing for Yuuri to follow him as he stood up. He led the Japanese man through his apartment and into the room that he called his studio. It was the smallest room in the apartment, easily being outsized by Alex’s art studio and their master bedroom.

The majority of the room was taken up by a computer desk that held three screens on it. The rest of the room was music stands and a little keyboard that he had set up across from his desk.

“Take a sit.” He said, gesturing to the large plump chair sitting in front of his computer. As Yuuri took a seat, he quickly fiddled with his computer and opened up a huge playlist of finished work that no one had heard before. He grabbed his headphones and gently placed them over Yuuri’s ears, smiling at how adorable that Japanese man look with the sound-muffling headphones on.

“Can you hear me?” He questioned, chuckling at the nod he got before pointing at the screen. “Okay, so, this is all the songs I have concluded as finished. Do as you wish.”

“Can I plug my phone up to your computer? Like to put a few songs on my phone to see how I skate to them?” He nodded and pointed out where a phone cable was before stepping back and watching Yuuri get comfortable in his chair and start to go through the long list of songs. He nodded his head before deciding to leave Yuuri to his own devices. It wasn’t like he had anything to hide.

*~*~*~*

Yuuri could understand why Vlad could disappear for days at a time when he was in a creative mood. His chair was ridiculously comfy, he almost felt like he was sinking into the probably real leather as he slowly went through all the songs.

He had put a number of songs onto his phone and was almost halfway through the playlist Vlad had given him permission to scroll through when one particular song title caught his attention.

It was a sing almost five minutes long titled ‘A Brothers Shadow’.

He pushed play and he felt a gasp leave him as the very first word echoed into his ear.

His eyes immediately started to water as the song progressed. He couldn’t understand a word of Vlad’s haunting voice, the song being in Italian he had to assume, by it was the pure emotion that came from each word that had Yuuri in tears.

Each word seemed to reverberate, clearly expressing the singers unfulfillment, frustration, desperation, longing.

The piano that accompanied Vlad’s voice was smooth and seem to bleed the same emotions. It wasn’t until Vlad’s voice faded away and was replaced with the mournful sound of a violin, that Yuuri realised he was crying. Tears ran down his cheeks as he attempted to stare at the screen in front of him.

The song was barely half way through when he transferred it to his phone. He probably would never skate to it, it felt too personal to do so, but he felt the need to have a copy of it.

*~*~*~*

“Yuuri~” Victor called out to his fiancé while wondering into the bedroom. The man he was searching for was hiding underneath the sheets of their bed, it was their day off and the Japanese man had barely moved. Though it was only nine in the morning, so he wasn’t too surprised.

“I brought coffee.” A small head of black popped up from the pile of blankets and he was graced with a sleepy look from his partner.

“Vitya?” Yuuri mumbled, voice raspy from sleep.

“Yes, lyubov moya.” He chuckled while moving to sit on the edge of the bed. He watched Yuuri shift around until he was in an upright position before offering him the mug of coffee in his hands.

“Lyubov moya, may I borrow your phone for a while? I want to go through some music options while cooking?” He questioned softly. He had accidentally shattered his phone at the rink the other day, and by accidentally, he meant left it in reach of an angst teenager. Yuuri gave a hum around his coffee which Victor took as a yes.

“Can we have eggs?” He heard Yuuri mumble as he grabbed his fiancés phone off the bedside table where it had been left to charge the night before.

“Of course.” He said brightly, pausing to kiss his fiancé before heading for the kitchen. He slipped on some earphones and plugged them into the phone in his hands and started going through Yuuri’s music. He spotted the ‘Vlad’s Music’ folder, knowing that Yuuri had approached Vlad about using some of his music for this season. He clicked on the folder and started scrolling through it as he headed for the kitchen. He had just entered the kitchen when he paused, noticing one particular song title.

“Ombra di un Fratello?” He mumbled, stumbling over the words a couple of times before pronouncing it correctly (at least in his opinion).

He stared at it for a moment in confusion before hitting the play button. He felt his eyes widen at the beautiful, emotional music and let himself get absorbed into the music as he started to prepare breakfast. Before he realised, the song was on repeat and he had decided to make this his song. He would skate to this song. He had just served up the small breakfast he had cooked up before deciding to translate the title. He typed into the translator on Yuuri’s phone the song title and changed it from Italian to Russia and froze at the translation that stared back at him.

“Oh.” He found himself mumbling weakly, “Oh Vlad.”

*~*~*~*

“I don’t understand why Victor was so insistent I come.” Vlad mumbled as Alex held his hand.

It was the first Grand Prix competition and his older brother had been very insistent he fly to America to watch him compete.

They had arrived three days ago and had had the pleasure of watching Victor’s short program yesterday, it had been as beautiful overall despite dropping his quad Lutz, triple toe loop to a quad Lutz, double Salchow at the last minute due to rotation issues (or so Victor claimed). Victor had placed in second overall for the day, being bumped out of first by Chris.

He was a little worried to be honest, Victor didn’t ask him to come to his competitions. During Victor’s junior years, he was actually banned from coming and had to stay home and watch his brother earn gold from the comfit of the family lounge.

“It is his last season. Maybe he just wants you to be part of it.” Alex mumbled while huddling into his side, despite living in Russia, the Italian still struggled with the cold.

“I guess.” He sighed while pulling Alex closer to his side, he had just leant down to plant a kiss on top of Alex’s head when the boy jolted in his arm.

“Oh! Vlad!” Alex said while pointing out over the rink. He hummed while following his fiancés finger before spotting his brother standing on the ice.

Victor stood in a black piece, but the thing that really drew the eye was the embedded detail stitched into the whole left side of the chest. Swirls of purple clashes with swirls of pink, lines of baby blue became overcome by lines of navy blue, and sparkles of white and silver broke up the other colours.

“Sorry, sorry.” The pair glanced up to see Yuuri a little out of breath as he ran towards them. “Victor shooed me off, which isn’t like him. Said I should sit with you two.” Vlad tilted his head to the side curiously before his eyes were drawn to the ice as the crowd erupted in cheers.

He turned to see Victor moving to the centre of the ice, waving out to the crowd. The large television screen scattered around the venue revealed that his brother was wearing dark makeup which really brought out his eyes.

The audience fell silent as Victor got into his starting position, simple standing position with his face turned downwards.

The first note rung out and Vlad knew right away the song that was playing. He rose the hand not clutching Alex, up to cover his mouth as Victor routine began. His brother clutched his chest like in pain before he begun to skate. He didn’t even realise he had started to cry until felt Alex’s hands on his face wiping away tears.

Victor skated so perfectly, somehow easily expressing the emotional turmoil that the song represented. His jumps were incredible, elegant and on point, years or practice evident in the way perfect performance of technicality and presentation.

When the song ended, Victor knelt on one knee, clutching his chest with his head tilted back, staring at the roof. A sob fell from Vlad’s lips, somehow escaping the hand covering his mouth.

“It’s okay.” He could hear Alex mumbling while gently rubbing his back.

That song hadn’t been meant for Victor’s ears, that song had been the result of his depression getting the best of him. No one had been meant to hear it, but here it was, the final note echoing around the stadium.

“I am so sorry.” He turned to see the Japanese man staring at him with so much panic. “He must have found it while going through my phone. I am so sorry.” He gave a weak chuckle before another sob erupted from his lips.

“I’m just.. I can’t… He wasn’t meant to hear that.” He admitted with the best smile he could muster at the moment, which wasn’t that big.

Yuuri stared at him for a moment before holding out his hand. “Come on, we can catch him out back when he gets off the kiss and cry.” He sat there for a moment before nodding his head.

“Okay.” He attempted to wipe away the wet feeling of tears down his cheeks before planting a soft kiss on Alex’s forehead while mumbling a soft thank you before they got up and followed Yuuri back stage.

It barely took ten minutes before Victor appeared, slightly flushed from his routine and huddling into his jacket.

“Victor!” He bit back a smile at the way his brothers head shot straight in Yuuri’s direction as the Japanese man called out to him before finding his brothers gaze locked on him.

He stood there froze in his brother’s gaze, unsure of how to feel. Should he feel worried that his brother knew the inner turmoil that raged inside him? Should he feel overjoyed that his brother had not only understood but had been able to express the same emotions on the ice for him? Should he-

Before he could think any longer, he found himself wrapped up in his brother’s arms, being held tightly.

“I don’t say it nearly enough, but I love you, little brother.” Another sob escaped him as he clutched on tightly to the back of his brother’s jacket.

**Author's Note:**

> This is an AU that a group of us on the Victuuri Writers Discord chat came up with.
> 
> Big thanks to RoseusJaeger, miraculouskatsukii and silencedmockingjay for brainstorming the main ideas with me
> 
> Headcannons and summaries for everyone is in the Victuuri Writers Collective: Russian Brothers AU Collection Profile if you are interested


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